Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Leave Britney Alone!

Since we've recently gotten onto the topic of what defines a media fan, I found it only appropriate to write my next blogging adventure on who other than YouTube's infamous, Chris Crocker. If this name does not sound familiar to you, Chris Crocker's video on YouTube has been viewed by almost 5 million people. Why so popular you ask? Well, Chris Crocker's video happens to be an emotional confession/defensive rant to try and get people to "Leave Britney alone!!!" In class today we discussed that being a fan of some sort of media is a part of expressing who we are; that it's a part of our identity. Chris Crocker is a great example of this way in which media fans are sometimes viewed. He lives, breathes, and even cries over the traumatic downfall of his biggest idol. We also questioned whether or not their are varying degrees of fandom. Can being a fan of media range from simply enjoying that media all the way to the point of obsessing ove it? Watching Chris Crocker's video made me realize that yes, there are different degress of fandom. Some people are not fans of Britney Spears, others might be a fan of a few of her songs, while some fans can say they've attended one of her concerts, but Chris Crocker is on a different spectrum. I wonder what Jenkins would write about a fan like Chris Crocker?


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